Readers Workshop Unit of Study
11th Grade – Independent Reading
ELA
Common
Core
Standards
Reading Literary Nonfiction Independently: Self-monitoring of Habits,
Strategies, and Processes to Analyze and Synthesize Craft, Structure, and
Central Idea
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
11th Grade – Reading Literary Nonfiction Independently: Self-monitoring of
Habits, Strategies, and Processes to Analyze and Synthesize Craft, Structure, and
Central Idea
Table of Contents
Background Section
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Sample Unit Section
Resources and Materials Needed ................................................................................................................. #
Overview of Sessions – Teaching and Learning Points ................................................................................. #
Some Important Points about these Lessons ............................................................................................... #
Lesson Plans .................................................................................................................................................. #
Resource Materials Section
See Separate Handout .................................................................................................................................. #
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
11th Grade – Reading Literary Nonfiction Independently: Self-monitoring of
Habits, Strategies, and Processes to Analyze and Synthesize Craft, Structure, and
Central Idea
Preface
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
High School Independent Reading Unit Learning Progressions
Text
9th Grade
10th Grade
11th Grade
12th Grade
Fiction
Autobiography, Biography, Memoir
Creative Nonfiction
Multi-genre

Set goals for reading for stamina
and fluency
Use strategies to find a “just-right”
book
Engage in discussion with other
readers.
Develop preferences for texts and
authors through personal study and
discussion with peers who are
engaged in their own personal
study to clarify a personal reading
identity


Develop fluency by connecting to

characters and the narrative voice
Make connections to create theories 
about author’s purpose and identify
central idea
Make connections to evaluate the

actions and emotions of the
characters and narrator as they face
conflicts
Develop fluency by connecting to
narrative voice
Make connections to create
theories about author’s purpose
and identify central idea
Make connections to evaluate the
insights the author expresses

Analyze how complex characters

develop through examination of
internal and external stories
Analyze how complex characters
advance the plot through

examination of conflicts and
character choices
Analyze how complex characters
establish theme through tracking

and confirming theories about the
novel’s central idea
Analyze the genre through personal
reading experience
Analyze the implications of how
complex characters advance the
plot through examination of
conflicts and character choices
Analyze how complex characters
establish theme through tracking
and confirming theories about the
novel’s central idea
Analyze the genre through
personal reading experience

Developing the 
Identity of the 
Reader


Interacting with 
Texts and Self
Monitoring

Exploring
Genre—
Elements and
Structures




Set goals for reading
Use strategies to find a “just-right”
book
Engage in discussion with other
readers.
Develop preferences for texts and
authors through exploration of a
variety of texts and authors to clarify
a personal reading identity











Set goals for reading to broaden and
explore unfamiliar nonfiction genres
Use strategies to find a “just-right”
book
Engage in discussion with other
readers
Develop preferences for texts and
authors through personal student and
discussion with peers who are
engaged in their own person study of
a variety of nonfiction texts



Develop fluency by connecting to the 
style and structure across the text

Make connections to create theories
about author’s purpose and identify

angles on the text’s central idea
Make connections to evaluate the
insights and claims the author makes
across the text
Analyze how a different types of
evidence support the central idea,
claims, and insights expressed by the
author
Analyze how the author establishes
and connects insights to influence a
reader
Analyze the counterclaims the author
introduces to influence a reader
Analyze the genre through personal
reading experience
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.




Set goals to read and explore unfamiliar
genres
Use strategies to find a “just-right” book
and related texts
Engage in discussion with other readers
Develop preferences for texts and
authors through personal study and
discussion with peers who are engaged in
their own personal study of a variety of
texts to clarify a personal reading identity
Making cross text connections
Synthesis of thinking across multiple
texts and multiple genres
Make connections to evaluate the
insights the authors express
Analyze how the same theme is
expressed in multiple genres
Analyze how different authors establish
and connect insights to influence a
reader
Analyze the differing claims the authors
introduce to influence a reader
Analyze the genres through personal
reading experience
Unit of Study
11th Grade–Reading Literary Nonfiction Independently: Self-monitoring of Habits,
Strategies, and Processes to Analyze and Synthesize Craft, Structure, and Central Idea
Abstract
WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT READING UNIT?
The focus of this unit is to read independently to “…make it easier for individuals both to enter the [reading] zone and to get their
feet under them as opinionated, versatile, critical readers who have goals and plans…” (Atwell, 2007). Since a major purpose of the
unit is to help students become better readers, teachers should pay particular attention to helping the students reflect upon their
identities as readers, monitor their reading comprehension, and apply their knowledge of the genre(s). Students choose texts that
match their interests and readability levels. They apply strategies and monitor their understanding to engage and manage reading in
multiple genres and increasingly complex texts and challenging texts. They track changes in their reading identities. The primary
focus for teacher instruction and assessment is the growth students make as readers which shifts focus away from content. As a
result, preservation of uninterrupted reading time during class periods is essential. This requires teachers keep mini-lessons and
conferring to an absolute minimum.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment will include both formative and summative tasks that provide a range of evidence that students create across the unit.
Formative Assessments: Growth of students as readers will be assessed in two ways: 1) written reflections; 2) teacher-student
conferences.
1. Reflections: Students will begin the unit reflecting upon their beliefs about reading. Periodically, they will stop and write
brief reflections on changes in their beliefs about reading and their identities as readers.
2. Conferring: One of the crucial formative assessment tools to be used by teachers is conferring with students at least twice
in each unit. Initial conferences will focus on ensuring that students are reading texts at appropriate reading levels,
matching students’ interests, and setting a reading goal. Follow-up conferences will monitor student growth over time in
areas identified by the teacher or student in the reflective writing process.
Summative Assessments: Students will write an on-demand response that asks them to reflect upon their identities as readers,
reading strategy use, and what they have learned about the elements of a genre and the impact of those elements on a reader. They
make claims about characteristics of the genre and use evidence from their texts to support their claims.
STUDENT OUTCOMES
This unit continues the use of a workshop approach, which develops reading, writing, and thinking skills that will be resonant
throughout the school year. Students will identify texts that match their reading level. This enables students to increase their
reading level by reading texts. Dick Allington in What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs
(Third Edition), states: “…replacing whatever went on in classrooms with added reading time was just as effective as, or more
effective than, traditional instruction in enhancing reading comprehension performance.” He goes on to say: “All students who are
highly engaged in reading achieve reading literacy scores that are significantly above the international mean, whatever their family
background.”
Students will:
1. develop positive identities and habits as readers
2. become familiar basic elements of a genre and how these genre elements function to create meaning and central ideas
3. self-monitor reading comprehension to
4. develop interactive speaking and listening habits to discuss their reading with others and develop critical thinking skills
TEACHER DECISIONS FOR UNIT IMPLEMENTATION
This unit serves as a single model of an independent reading unit. It provides strategies for selecting topics, researching, organizing
and writing an informational essay. The unit is designed to follow the Launching Unit, and can kick off students’ independent reading
for the year. The unit itself but can be returned to throughout the course of the school year as students read independently. We
recommend that teachers study and understand the intent of the lesson series. The lessons have a purposeful sequence, but it may
require that teachers make adjustments in pacing or decisions about extension activities. Teachers are encouraged to gather their
own classroom library that reflects a range of reading levels and student interests. (Friends of Public Library book sales and PTSA
donations are ways to collect a library cheaply.) Please see the resources section for other sources to deepen your understanding of
independent reading instruction.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
UNIT ORGANIZATION
The unit weaves three concepts that accelerate independent reading. The concepts are interrelated and recursive rather than
appearing as separate parts of the unit. Students continually reflect on their thinking and interactions with texts and with other
readers as they set goals and monitor their reading. The unit is intended to take approximately two weeks. Some sessions may take
several days. The primary purpose for this unit is for students to read a significant number of pages in and out of school daily. To
prioritize volume of reading, in-class reading time must be 30-35 minutes daily. The three concepts are:
 Identity as a Reader
 Interacting with Texts & Self-Monitoring
 Genre—Elements and Structures
The work in this unit is vertically aligned and extends prior learning with the expectation that students understand the repertoire of
decisions taught in previous grades.
Instructional Sequencing, Scaffolding, and Pacing:
Daily pacing of the unit’s sessions is based on a 50 minute class period. Individual teacher pacing will change based on duration of
the class period, student population, familiarity with content, process, and/or instructional practices.
Instruction scaffolds students through a four-tiered process.
1. Teaching Point: Teacher models the strategy, process, skill, or habit of mind using a mentor text written by the teacher,
students, and/or published writers or other materials.
2. Active Engagement: Students rehearse the writing, thinking and/or critical reading or viewing just modeled by the teacher.
3. Independent Practice: Students complete a mini-task independently or in small collaborative groups. During independent
practice, the teacher confers with individuals or small groups to assess student performance to differentiate the lesson and
task. Teacher may stop the independent practice to adjust the mini-task and/or session teaching point or for planned
teaching points that extend or deepen student performance.
4. Share: Students share to read, examine, analyze and/or reflect on the range of responses created by other students.
Sharing also enables students to self-monitor effective strategy use. The teacher may also share an exemplar to reinforce or
enhance the session’s teaching point(s) and student enactment.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Standards
Number
1
2
7
9
10
Reading Informational Texts
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and central ideas.
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and
quantitatively, as well as in words.
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to
compare the approaches the authors take.
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Number
Writing
4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
10
Number
1a
3
Speaking and Listening
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that
preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a
thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric
Number
Language
6
Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient
for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Overview of Sessions
Unit Title: Independent Reading: Reading Literary Nonfiction Independently—Analysis of Central Idea
Unit Description (overview): In this unit, students will select from a range of literary nonfiction texts which encompass a variety
of topics, central ideas, and arguments familiar and unfamiliar to the students. As in previous Independent Reading Units, this unit
continues to promote basic reading goals: 1) develop fluency and stamina by connecting to the style and structure of a single text
and other texts in a genre; 2) increase volume by choosing longer or more complex texts; 3) set goals to broaden and explore new
genres or authors to assure continuous growth. In addition, the unit is designed to stretch or extend readers’ engagement with
texts into a genre which may be less familiar to some readers. Students will have the opportunity to develop preferences for texts
and authors in this genre. Students will keep a Reader’s Notebook in which they monitor their reading progress, collect central
ideas and arguments as well as track evidence to support claims they are making about the author’s purpose. Students will
identify, analyze, and evaluate structures typical of literary nonfiction. They will discuss in whole class and/or meet in small groups
to predict and develop theories about an author’s craft and structural decisions as well as purpose.
Essential Questions:
What reading and thinking habits do I have or will learn through stretching or extending my reading in Literary Nonfiction.
What strategies and processes do I use to engage in reading to explore central ideas and arguments posed in informational texts?
What are the basic structures of book-length literary nonfiction texts?
How can I use knowledge about these structures to enable me to engage in increasingly complex texts to identify an author’s
multiple purposes in a text?
1. 1.1 Readers acknowledge who they are as readers and as part of a reading community. They set goals for their reading.
1.2 Readers use strategies to find the book that is right for them.
Pre-Unit Performance Task
What preferences do I have when reading independently and how will I stretch or extend my reading habits while reading Literary Nonfiction?
After listing in and out of school reading, and reading dust-jacket comments from a range of Literary Nonfiction, write a reflective paragraph that
states if this unit will stretch or extend your reading habits. Predict one way you might change as a reader by reading and studying this genre.
2. 2.1 Readers develop fluency as they get acquainted with the narrator’s voice and connect to the central ideas in the text.
2.2 Readers develop fluency with language and central ideas by collecting quotes and noticing important details as they read on
a Chapter-by-chapter bookmark.
3. 3.1 Readers talk to the text to prepare for discussions about the central ideas, details, using domain specific vocabulary.
3.2 Readers practice positive discussion behaviors.
4. Readers reread key chapters or sections to identify and connect details that promote various angles on the text’s central
idea(s).
5. Readers evaluate how they are changing as readers and self-monitor their growth.
Mid-Unit Formative Assessment Task
How are my reading habits, my identity as a reader, or my preferences for reading changing? Review your reader’s notebook, the goals you set
before beginning the unit and goals you set during the unit. Reflect on this review to identify one way you have grown as a reader. Write a
reflective paragraph that states how you have changed. Provide specific evidence from your notebook and the text you are reading to explain
how and why this change occurred.
6
7
8
9
Readers analyze and evaluate the types of evidence an author uses to support the central idea, claim, or insight.
Readers analyze the elements and structures of the text to suggest how the author establishes and connects details to develop
a central idea, claim, or insight that will influence a reader.
Readers share their opinions agreeing or disagreeing with the author’s purpose: central ideas, claims, or insights developed in
a text.
Readers analyze the genre of Literary Nonfiction and recommend how and why this genre might be part of an individual’s
reading life.
Summative Assessment Task
What reading habit impacted the way you analyzed and tracked the central idea(s) in this text? After reading part or all of one text, review the
connections, theories, and discussion topics you have tracked and recorded in your reader’s notebook, handouts or bookmarks. Write 2-3
paragraphs to state the central idea and/or purpose of the whole text, explain how the author connects details across the text to promote that
central idea, and explain how the author structures a single chapter, a pair of chapters to establish and explore the central idea of the whole
text.
Write a single paragraph reflection on how your reading habits have changed during this unit and how this change will impact future reading of
informational texts.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Exploring Literary
Fiction to Select a Text
and Set Goals
Concept
Teaching Points
Preparation
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Author’s and Reader’s
View Quotes
Session 1
Developing the Identity of a Reader
1.1 Readers acknowledge who they are as readers and as part of a reading community. They set goals
for their reading.
1.2 Readers use strategies to find the book that is right for them.
 Collect a range of literary nonfiction texts or informational texts that will meet individual student
needs, such as: reading level, interest, topic/text complexity and appropriateness to stretch and
or extend student prior experience with literary nonfiction. These texts could be book-length,
article/essay length. If you are a one-to-one computing school, you may add websites where
students can access print, audio, and video texts. This extension opportunity might encourage
students to expand their experience with and interest in informational reading.
 Copy or add new quotes to the quote-set below: Defining Literary Nonfiction—An Author’s and
Reader’s View. These quotes define literary nonfiction and/or represent reader comments from
the book jackets of texts students may have to select from during the unit.
 Definitions of Literary Nonfiction [see Annotated Bibliography]
 Sufficient texts to match readers and allow students to choose texts based on readability, topic,
and interest.
 Identify a stack of texts that you have read in the past two years. Select 2-3 informational texts to
talk to students about how the ideas, topics, authors, or personal interests drew you to read
these texts. Ideally, you might have a range of texts: book-length, article-length, etc.
 1-2 literary nonfiction text that you are currently reading to model the lessons. You will use the
text(s) to model the teaching points, habits, strategies, and processes students will be using to
interact with the texts.
 What reading and thinking habits do I have or will learn through stretching or extending my
reading in Literary Nonfiction.
 What strategies and processes do I use to engage in reading to explore central ideas and
arguments posed in informational texts?
Literary nonfiction. Creative nonfiction. Factual fiction. Documentary narrative. The literature of
actuality. This powerful, ever-controversial genre is called by many names.
Whatever you call it, it is a form of storytelling as old as the telling of stories. The genre recognizes
both the inherent power of the real and the deep resonance of the literary. It is a form that allows a
writer both to narrate facts and to search for truth, blending the empirical eye of the reporter with
the moral vision – the—I—of the novelist.
–Etude: New Voices in Literary Nonfiction
A writer is a professional, and part of what it means to be a professional is that one is assumed to be
capable of separating one's personal from one's professional life. A doctor who misdiagnoses you is
not allowed to say, in his defense, that he had a fight with his wife that morning; nor can a doctor who
has a personal aversion to homosexuality refuse to treat a gay patient. We rely, as patients, on the
fact that a doctor can create a reasonably clear boundary between the various domains of his life. I
think we can reasonably have the same faith in journalists.
–Malcolm Gladwell
Reader Comments about Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking

Gladwell can be simultaneously lively and serious, with particularly good instincts for
finding quirky, varied examples to prove his points.
—Janet
Maslin, New York Times

Royally entertaining…Gladwell’s real genius is as a storyteller. He’s like an
omniscient, many-armed Hindu god of anecdotes: he plucks them from every imaginable
field of human endeavor.”
—Lev Grossman, Time
I have collected all the material in a book. ...I have written about my research, but also I have shown
how to understand the mystery [of what we see]. …We have to see [something] from many points of
view: biology and evolution, neurophysiology, psychology, art, history, art therapy, ethnology,
sociology, cultural anthropology.
—Piero Ferrucci
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Teaching Point 1.1
Reader Comments about Piero Ferrucci’s book the power of kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of
Leading a Compassionate Life

Kind is not just please and thank you, Ferrucci writes. Using religious, philosophical,
and personal examples…Ferrucci argues that kindness lies at the core of eighteen other
qualities that help humans thrive.
–Lynn Harris, The Washington Post Book World

Lovely …takes readers on a journey involving the exploration of human kindness as
an essential feature of a peaceful world and a fulfilling life. …There is much to be learned and
valued in these pages.
—Kathryn L. Norsworthy, PsycCRITIQUES: American Psychological
Association Review of Books
I didn’t know whether Disney Princesses would be the first salvo in a Hundred Years’ War of dieting,
plucking, painting (and perpetual dissatisfaction with the results). But, for me they became a trigger
for the larger question of how to help our daughters, with the contradictions they will inevitably face
as girls, the dissonance that is as endemic as ever to growing up female.
–Peggy Orenstein
Reader Comments about Peggy Orensteins book Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the
Front Lines of Girlie-Girl Culture.

A must-read for any parent trying to stay sane in a media saturated world.
—Rachel Simmons, Author of Odd Girl Out And The Curse Of The Good Girl

An excellent guide through the sparkly territory young girls increasingly inhabit.
…Hilarious, sometimes troubling, always real.
–
Boston Globe
Readers acknowledge who they are as readers and as part of a reading community. They set goals
for their reading.
Pre-Unit Performance Task
What preferences do I have when reading independently and how will I stretch or extend my
reading habits while reading Literary Nonfiction? After listing in and out of school reading, and
reading dust-jacket comments from a range of Literary Nonfiction, write a reflective paragraph
that states if this unit will stretch or extend your reading habits. Predict one way you might
change as a reader by reading and studying this genre.
Active Engagement
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Describe your reading life and in and out of school reading
preferences and habits. Gather a stack of books, magazines, or other texts that you have read in the
past few months or so. Explain when you read, how often you read, what types of and how much of
specific genres you prefer. Be sure to include an informational text in the stack. Be honest with how
often you finish or abandon a text.
Turn and Talk: What genres do you prefer to read? Why do you prefer to read that genre?
Independent Practice
Share
Teaching Point 1.2
Mini-Task: Complete the Pre-Assessment Step 1 and Step 2.
Turn and Talk: Review your reflection then describe your reading life to a partner.
Readers use strategies to find the book that is right for them.
Active Engagement
Independent Practice
Teacher Model and Think-Aloud: Distribute the quotes that define an author’s and readers’ views on
literary nonfiction or share a single author’s thoughts and comments from a book jacket that you are
currently reading. Model your thinking on how you will/did select a text for independent reading from
the texts available to students using the definitions, the book-jacket comments, readability of the
texts, and personal interest in a topic.
Model the basics of selecting a “just-right” book that fits a student’s independent reading level to
ensure they can maintain fluency and ease of reading to move quickly through the text.
Preparation: Read the additional quotes from Literary Nonfiction authors and the book-jacket
comments.
Turn and Talk: Discuss which books you are interested in and which books feel like a stretch to you.
Mini-Task: In your search for a “just-right” book, select 3 books that seem interesting. Commit to
reading the back cover, author notes, and introduction. After reading all three, determine which book
is just-right for you by taking the “Just-Right-Book” Test with a partner.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Share and Exit Slip
Homework
Summative
Assessment Task
Teacher Model: Model making a prediction about the ways you might change as a reader by reading
informational texts or ways that reading this genre might stretch or extend your reading habits.
Turn and Talk: Discuss possible goals and individual create an exit slip that states 1-2 goals for your
reading.
Pre-Unit Assessment: Write a reflective paragraph that predicts how you might change as a reader
and states how this unit might stretch or extend your reading habits.
Introduce and Connect to Pre-Assessment: Students should think ahead to the end of unit
assessment and review the rubric.
Summative Assessment Task
What reading habit impacted the way you analyzed and tracked the central idea(s) in this text?
After reading part or all of one text, review the connections, theories, and discussion topics you
have tracked and recorded in your reader’s notebook, handouts or bookmarks. Write 2-3
paragraphs to state the central idea and/or purpose of the whole text, explain how the author
connects details across the text to promote that central idea, and explain how the author
structures a single chapter, a pair of chapters to establish and explore the central idea of the whole
text.
Write a single paragraph reflection on how your reading habits have changed during this unit and
how this change will impact future reading of informational texts.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Pre-Unit Performance Task
What preferences do I have when reading independently and how will I stretch or extend my reading habits while reading Literary Nonfiction?
After listing in and out of school reading, and reading dust-jacket comments from a range of Literary Nonfiction, write a reflective paragraph
that states if this unit will stretch or extend your reading habits. Predict one way you might change as a reader by reading and studying this
genre.
STEP 1: REMEMBER YOUR READING CHOICES. Think back across the two years. List the texts you read in-school and out-of-school. If
you need more space, write on the back.
IN-SCHOOL
OUT-OF-SCHOOL
Books--List titles:
Books--List titles:
Essays, News, Magazines—List titles:
Essays, News, Magazines—List titles:
Online: Blogs, Wikis, etc.—List titles:
Online: Blogs, Wikis, etc.—List titles:
Video, Audio, or Graphic Texts—List titles or topics:
Video, Audio, or Graphic Texts—List titles or topics:
STEP 2: REFLECT ON YOUR CHOICES. Talk with a Partner: Describe your reading life by answering the following questions: 1) How
much of your reading is assigned by a teacher? 2) What genre, author or topic do you choose when you are reading on your own? 3)
What is one text that you recently read that caused you to think about a topic in a new way, change or confirm the way you act or
live, and/or prompted you to do more reading?
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Just-Right Book Selection Process
A “Just-Right” book is one you can read 25-30 pages in 30
minutes.
This means you
 will encounter only 3-5 words on a single page that
present a challenge for you.
 can read at approximately 1 page in 60-90 seconds.
 can read fluently in a first reading with a sense of voice.
 will finish the book and possibly a second book in two
weeks of independent reading in and out of school.
TEXT SELECTION PROCESS
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
1. Browse the classroom library and identify 3-4 books that
seem interesting based on the title, author, or
information on the cover or in the author notes.
2. Read the cover notes and introduction. If you are still
interested in the book, take the “Just-Right” Test.

Count the number of words that present a challenge
on the first page of chapter 1.

Read aloud 1 page to a partner to confirm that this
book is a good match.

Are you willing and able to finish this book in 1-2
weeks?
□ one week to read a 250-300 page book
□ two weeks to read a 600 + page book
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Session 1: Just-Right Book Survey: Read the cover and introduction. Take the “Just-Right” book test. Write a brief summary of the
topic and idea of the book. Indicate if the book is “Just Right” or will present a challenge for you.
Author
Title
Brief summary: Summarize the topic, ideas, claim(s) you
identified in the brief reading experience.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Indicate if the book
is Just Right or a
Challenge
Sessions 2-9: Independent Reading-Literary Nonfiction Reading Log
Book Title & Author:
Date Time reading in
workshop
Pages read
in
workshop
Time
reading
out of
workshop
Pages read
out of
workshop
Reflecting on your reading (Comment on your
reading speed, how well you stayed focused
and managed distractions.)
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Independent Reading Summative Assessment Rubric
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What reading habit impacted the way you analyzed and tracked the central idea(s) in this text?
TASK: After reading part or all of one text, review the connections, theories, and discussion topics you have tracked and recorded in
your reader’s notebook, handouts or bookmarks. Write 2-3 paragraphs to state the central idea and/or purpose of the whole text,
explain how the author connects details across the text to promote that central idea, and explain how the author structures a single
chapter, a pair of chapters to establish and explore the central idea of the whole text.
Write a single paragraph reflection on how your reading habits have changed during this unit and how this change will impact future
reading of informational texts.
Informational Product Rubric
Focus
Reading/
Research
Development
Organization
Conventions
Highly Proficient
Addresses all aspects of prompt
with a highly focused and
detailed response.
Accurately presents and applies
information relevant to the
prompt with specific examples
from the research.
Presents detailed information in
order to answer questions and
solve problems. Concisely
explains key information with
details. Identifies reading shifts
and supplies evidence.
Applies appropriate structure(s)
to explain, examine, convey,
define, analyze, synthesize,
compare, or explain cause/effect,
problem/solution.
Demonstrates a well-developed
command of standard English
conventions and cohesion;
employs language and tone
appropriate to audience and
purpose.
Teacher Comments:
Meets Expectations
Addresses prompt with a
focused response.
Attempting to Meet Expectations
Attempts to address prompt but
lacks focus or is off-task.
Presents and applies
information relevant to
prompt with general accuracy
and sufficient detail.
Presents information in order
to answer questions and solve
problems. Explains key
information with some
details. Identifies a reading
shift.
Applies a generally effective
structure to explain, examine,
convey, define, analyze,
synthesize, compare, or
explain cause/effect,
problem/solution.
Demonstrates a command of
standard English conventions
and cohesion; employs
language and tone
appropriate to audience and
purpose.
Attempts to present information
relevant to task but may lack
sufficient or relevant details.
Presents limited information.
Ideas do not include details or
examples.
Applies an ineffective structure;
text rambles or line of thought is
disconnected.
Demonstrates a weak command
of standard English conventions;
lacks cohesion; language and
tone are inappropriate to
audience and purpose.
Developed by Literacy Design Collaborative http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org/
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Interacting with a Text
to Engage with an
Author’s Central idea
Concept
Teaching Point
Preparation
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Teaching Point 2.1
Active Engagement
Teaching Point 2.2
Independent Practice
Partner Share
Session 2
Interacting with Texts and Self-Monitoring
2.1 Readers develop fluency as they get acquainted with the narrator’s voice and connect to the
central ideas in the text.
2.2 Readers develop fluency with language and central ideas by collecting academic or domainspecific vocabulary and noticing important details as they read.
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading
during the unit.
Teacher-model text.
What strategies and processes do I use to engage in reading to explore central ideas and
arguments posed in informational texts?
Readers develop fluency as they get acquainted with the narrator’s voice and connect to the
central ideas in the text.
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Read part of a chapter aloud. Pause occasionally and thinkaloud the how the voice of the narrator engages you as a reader. Notice if the author uses first
person which creates a sense that the writer is talking to the reader. Notice if the author is telling
a story about a person he knows or people from history or a research project. Pay attention to
names and events so that you can connect parts and draw conclusions to identify the central
idea. Even though informational texts are providing information, the writing might be surprisingly
engaging and unlike an encyclopedia, textbook or other factual texts students have encountered.
Preparation: Read a page of your book and identify how the voice of the narrator engages you as
a reader. [If you find that the book is not engaging, you may want to consider a different book
that does engage you.]
Turn and Talk: What makes this book engaging?
Readers develop fluency with language and central ideas by collecting quotes and noticing
important details as they read on a Chapter-by-chapter bookmark.
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Demonstrate ways students will use a bookmark or notebook
system to collect evidence, vocabulary, and important details to make connections and clarify the
author’s purpose.
Mini-Task: Read your text noticing how the author engages a reader. As you read, collect quotes
(lifting exact words from a specific sentence), evidence, and details that seem important on your
bookmark.
Prepare for a Partner Conversation:
Turn and Talk: After paying attention to how an author engages a reader and collecting quotes
(lifting exact words from a specific sentence), evidence, and details, what reading goal will help
you interact with the book at home as well as at school?
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Independent Reading 11: Session 2
Conversation Preparation Card
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What seems to be the central idea(s) in the text so far?
What key details are interesting to you or challenge your thinking?
What ideas about the world do you think are being expressed? What makes you think this?
Which part(s) do you find confusing?
Which lines seem to challenge your thinking so far in your reading? Why are
Use the following sentence stems to help you in your conversation:
 I like…
 I dislike…
 I can’t believe…
 I wonder…
 I know someone like…
 I’ve always been interested in…
Conversation Preparation Card
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What seems to be the central idea(s) in the text so far?
What key details are interesting to you or challenge your thinking?
What ideas about the world do you think are being expressed? What makes you think this?
Which part(s) do you find confusing?
Which lines seem to challenge your thinking so far in your reading? Why are
Use the following sentence stems to help you in your conversation:
 I like…
 I dislike…
 I can’t believe…
 I wonder…
 I know someone like…
 I’ve always been interested in…
Conversation Preparation Card
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What seems to be the central idea(s) in the text so far?
What key details are interesting to you or challenge your thinking?
What ideas about the world do you think are being expressed? What makes you think this?
Which part(s) do you find confusing?
Which lines seem to challenge your thinking so far in your reading? Why are
Use the following sentence stems to help you in your conversation:
 I like…
 I dislike…
 I can’t believe…
 I wonder…
 I know someone like…
 I’ve always been interested in…
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Chapter-by-Chapter Bookmark to Identify Important Points
and Central Idea
Name:
Chapter:
Quote:
Page #:
Chapter:
Quote:
Page #:
Title:
Chapter:
Quote:
Page #:
Chapter:
Quote:
Page #:
What is the author’s belief or claim in this chapter?
Chapter:
Quote:
Page #:
Connect several quotes to state a personal conclusion
on this belief or claim.
What is the author’s belief or claim in this chapter?
Connect several quotes to state a personal conclusion
on this belief or claim.
Independent Reading 11: Session 2
Chapter:
Quote:
Page #:
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Independent Reading 11: Session 2
MODEL
Chapter-by-Chapter Bookmark of
Insights and Angles on an Idea or Claim
Name:
Book title: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Chapter: Introduction Page #: 14-15
Quote: “The first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made quickly can be every bit as good as
decisions made cautiously and deliberately. … I am also interested in the moments that betray us. … Snap judgments
and first impressions can be educated and controlled.”
Chapter: 1
Page #: 23
Quote: “Thin-slicing is part of what makes the unconscious so dazzling. …when our unconscious engages in thin-slicing
we are doing an automated, accelerated unconscious version of what [a scientist] does with videotapes and equations.
Page #: 33
Quote: “It’s sifting through the situation in front of us, throwing out all that is irrelevant while we zero in on what
really matters. And the truth is that our unconscious is really good at this, to the point that think-slicing often delivers a
better answer than more deliberate and exhaustive ways of thinking.”
Chapter: 2
Page #: 58
Quote: “ [the experiments ] suggest that what we think of as free will is largely an illusion: much of the time, we are
simply operating on automatic pilot, and the way we think and act—and how well we think and act on the spur of the
moment—are a lot more susceptible to outside influences then we realize.”
Page#: 71
Quote: …people are ignorant of the things that affect their actions. yet they rarely feel ignorant. We need to accept our
ignorance and say “I don’t know more often.”
What is the author’s belief or claim in this chapter?
He states his intentions very clearly in the Introduction.
The book has three goals. He illustrates and discusses the first two:
1. Decisions made quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.
2. Quick decisions can betray us.
Connect several quotes to state a personal insight on this claim.
Connect Page 23 and 58
Gladwell’s research indicates that I act based on unconscious auto-pilot. I may think that I am reflective and thoughtful,
but the thoughts are really gut reactions that I’ve done repeatedly. In order to really make decisions, I need to slow
down, listen to myself as well as others. Any quick decision I make is suspect. And if I just “thin-slice” my life, I can look
at one small encounter to see how honest and reflective I am being with conversations and decisions when engaging
with ordinary, everyday activities.
Teacher Note: After reading several creative nonfiction books, it seems that most books state the goal(s) of the book in
the introduction. It creates a pathway to identify insights and angles. Authors, generally, insert new insights that angle
the reader’s thinking in small increments from chapter to chapter. If students capture the new insight or angle on the
idea they will also understand the multiple ways they might think about the book’s stated purpose. It might be
interesting for students to find out of this is the way all writers structure their books. They may find some authors
influence the reader in other ways.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Building Reading
Communities
Concept
Teaching Points
Preparation
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Teaching Point 3.1
Active Engagement
Independent Practice
Session 3
Developing the Identity of the Reader
3.1 Readers talk to the text to prepare for discussions about the central ideas, details, using
domain-specific vocabulary.
3.2 Readers practice positive discussion behaviors.
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading
during the unit.
Teacher-model text.
What strategies and processes do I use to engage in reading to explore central ideas and
arguments posed in informational texts?
Readers talk to the text to prepare for discussions about the central ideas, details, using
domain-specific vocabulary.
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Demonstrate collecting domain-specific vocabulary in their
writer’s notebook or bookmark. Domain-specific vocabulary is words the writer introduces
that are essential to the ideas being explained. A reader might be able to explain the central
idea without these words, but if would be difficult. This key vocabulary will probably be
repeated. The first encounter usually defines the words.
Example: Below is a list of 11 words from the Introduction of Blink. The words in grayed
boxes will be repeated and are important and help a reader understand the concept of thinslicing. You might disagree and think other words are also important, so this is not a “pure”
science of clearly important words. HOWEVER, thin-slicing is an essential term. Readers must
add that word to their vocabulary as they continue reading and as they talk about the book
and the book’s central idea. The gray words support readers’ understanding of thin-slicing.
consciously aware
thin-slicing
interceptors
adaptive unconscious
automated
transmitting characteristics
rapid cognition
accelerated
content-filter
instincts
deliberation
Turn and Talk: Find a spot you found interesting in your reading yesterday. Read a brief passage
aloud to your partner about the domain-specific vocabulary that seems important to remember
and use when you talk about the book.
Mini-Task: Continue reading, collecting details, vocabulary, and central ideas that seem important
to you. Pause to talk to the text. You may elect to talk to the text any time during or at the end of
the Independent Reading time.
Teacher Conferences to Monitor and Set Goals: During Session 3, 4, and 5, complete and record
a first round conference with each student. A resource (Question for Conferring During Reading
Workshop) follows this session and provides questions by category of conference purpose.
Teaching Point 3.2
Conferences are not intended to be graded observations. They are a brief opportunity for
students to name and provide feedback to the teacher about what they are thinking and what
strategies, habits, or process they are using to read the text. They are also intended to provide a
moment for the teacher to guide the student.
Readers practice positive discussion behaviors. Peer conversations about texts support the
individual reader’s theory-work allowing each reader to identify one of the text’s central idea(s)
and propose the author’s purpose.
Teacher Model: Post a chart of positive discussion behaviors and discuss the importance of peer
discussions on a reader’s theory-work and independent development of a text’s central idea(s).
Discuss the difference between a conversation and a round-robin report out. The goal (over time)
is to develop a book-talk conversation rather than a reporting out of each individual’s thinking.
You may decide to model these positive discussion behaviors in a fish bowl.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Share: Small Group
Conversations
Turn and Talk Preparation: Review your vocabulary lists and select a single word that seems
essential to understand the author’s central idea. Then list 2-3 other words that help you explain
that word to a person who hasn’t read the book yet. Define an essential term using words from
the text as well as your own vocabulary to explain the importance of the term and paraphrase the
example the author uses when (s)he defines it.
Conversation Task: What seems to be one central idea that the author is promoting in the text to
this point? Point to evidence that you have collected to support your belief that this is a central
idea. Use academic vocabulary you have found in the text to explain you’re the central idea and
your reaction to the author’s purpose.
QUESTIONS FOR CONFERRING DURING READING WORKSHOP
Conference serves several purposes:
1. a check point for volume, fluency and comprehension
2. a teachable moment based on the student’s strengths or instructional needs
3. an opportunity to engage students in conversations about their reading with another reader
These questions open conversations with students so they can explain
1. the ways they are monitoring their reading
2. how they are applying the mini-lessons
3. the decisions and/or evaluation of the readings to develop an identity as a reader and personal taste
4. the ways the reading is engaging them
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Categories of Questions for Independent Reading Conferences
Identity as a Reader
Self-Monitoring
Engagement with narrator/characters,
plot, or ideas
Why did you decide to read this
book?
What strategies are you using to be an
interactive reader?

Why are you using this/these
strategies?

Which strategy is most effective? Why?
What do you like/dislike about the
genre/author’s style?
Are you rereading?
 when you are reading words but can’t
remember what you’ve read
 when you need to clarify a question
 when you stop to summarize
 when you want to develop a fluent,
expressive voice
 when you find yourself distracted
What encourages you to keep reading?
Is this book drawing you in? Are you able to
read without a lot of effort?
Who’s the narrator? Is this story told in first
person?
 Do you like/dislike the narrator/the way
the story is told?
 What do you have in common with the
narrator?
What’s happening now?
 How does this affect your view of the
story?
 Are you still interested? Why? Why not?
How does this book compare with
other books you’ve read/other books
by this author/other books in this
genre?
Is this a page-turner or a literary
Are you staying on target with your reading
novel? Why?
goals?
What do you notice?

How much did you read yesterday?

Where are you finding time to read?

What challenges keep you from meeting
your goals?

How will you address these challenges?
Any surprises so far?
Any theories about the novel?
 What evidence prompts you to believe
this theory?
 So how’s your theory about _________
going? Any evidence emerging to
support your thinking?
 Have you developed any new theories?
What evidence is encouraging you to
add this theory?
Do you approve or disapprove of the
character’s
 views or actions?
 reactions and treatment of other
characters/animals/etc.?
Are you considering
Are you making a connection with this book?
What do you like?

abandoning this book?
 book/narrator

Reading another by the same
author?
 plot or action

Reading another in the same
 ideas
genre?
 genre
Now that you’ve finished this, what
Are you skipping or skimming sections?
Which character is most like you? Most
will you rate this book?
unlike? Why?

too much unnecessary description

author

unimportant action

genre
What’s another book you’ve been
How did today’s mini-lesson help you focus
Which character do you want as a friend?
considering?
your reading?
Why?
I think you might like________.
Additional conferencing questions available in Nancie Atwell’s The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical
Readers. (P. 92 2007)
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Anecdotal Notes to Identify and Encourage Growth in Independent Reading
First Interview
Second Interview
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Student Response [in brief]:
Student Response [in brief]:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Student Response [in brief]:
Student Response [in brief]:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Student Response [in brief]:
Student Response [in brief]:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Student Response [in brief]:
Student Response [in brief]:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Name:
Text:
Category & Question:
Student Response [in brief]:
Student Response [in brief]:
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Positive Discussion Behaviors
in a Community of Independent Readers
A good reading community member:
_____ makes eye contact with partners.
_____ listens without interrupting.
_____ stays focused on the conversation.
_____ asks relevant and interesting questions.
_____ points to specific lines in the text for support.
_____ invites partner(s) to participate equally.
_____ politely offers an alternative when s/he disagrees.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Identifying Repeated
Structures of Literary
Nonfiction
Concept
Teaching Point
Preparation
Session 4
Exploring Genre—Structures
Readers reread key chapters or sections to identify and connect details that promote various
angles on the text’s central idea(s).
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading
during the unit.
Suggested Materials
Teacher-model text.
Essential Question(s)


Teaching Point
Active Engagement
Independent Practice
Partner Share
What strategies and processes do I use to engage in reading to explore central ideas and
arguments posed in informational texts?
What are the basic elements and structures of literary nonfiction?
Readers reread key chapters or sections to identify and connect details that promote various
angles on the text’s central idea(s).
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Reread a chapter to connect details across chapters that call
attention to new angles on the central idea in a previous chapter. Read –aloud and ask
students to notice what is the author saying in this chapter that is the same or seems very
connected to the last chapter? What is the author saying that is slightly or significantly
different?
Turn and Talk: What is the same? What is different? How
Guided Discussion: What new angle or way of thinking about the central idea in the previous
chapter is being explored in this chapter? How does this new angle affect the way you see the
subject the author is exploring?
Mini-Task: Notice what details and evidence is the same and what is different about the evidence
in the “next” chapter of your book. Track the similarities and differences. What is the new angle
being explored in the “next” chapter?
Confer to Monitor and Set Goals: During Session 3, 4, and 5, complete and record a first round
conference with each student. A resource (Question for Conferring During Reading Workshop)
follows this session and provides questions by category of conference purpose.
Turn and Talk: How is the central idea changing with each new chapter of the book?
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Making Connections
that Deepen Reading
Goals
Concept
Interacting with Texts and Self-Monitoring
Teaching Point
Readers evaluate how they are changing as readers and self-monitor their growth.
Preparation
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading during the
unit.
Teacher-model text.
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Independent
Assessment
Session 5


What are the basic elements and structures of literary nonfiction?
How can I use knowledge about these elements and structures to enable me to engage in
increasingly complex texts to identify an author’s multiple purposes in a text?
Mid-Unit Formative Assessment Task
How are my reading habits, my identity as a reader, or my preferences for reading changing?
Review your reader’s notebook, the goals you set before beginning the unit and goals you set
during the unit. Reflect on this review to identify one way you have grown as a reader. Write a
reflective paragraph that states how you have changed. Provide specific evidence from your
notebook and the text you are reading to explain how and why this change occurred
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Evaluating Types of
Evidence
Concept
Teaching Point
Preparation
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Teaching
Point
Independent Practice
Session 6
Exploring Genre—Elements and Structures
Readers analyze and evaluate the types of evidence an author uses to support the central
idea, claim, or insight.
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading
during the unit.
Teacher-model text.
 What are the basic elements and structures of literary nonfiction?
 How can I use knowledge about these elements and structures to enable me to engage in
increasingly complex texts to identify an author’s multiple purposes in a text?
Readers analyze and evaluate the types of evidence an author uses to support the central
idea, claim, or insight. Writers of literary nonfiction choose from a range of evidence to
support the central idea of the text, such as stories, anecdotes, quotes from authorities, facts
and information from research projects, and analysis of art, music, and/or literature.
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Using the same chart students will use during the hour,
identify, name, and consider the value of types of evidence used in your text. Identify one
type that seems to be most effective. Explain how and why?
Mini-Task: Create a table in your reader’s notebook to track the types of evidence used in your
text.
As you read today, track the types of evidence and indicate how effective it is using a 1-3 scale.
Types of Evidence from Blink
Page(s)
Type of Evidence
Introduction
Story of the Getty
3-8
Introduction
9-11
Research at the University of Iowa on gamblers
(authorities)
3
Most
Effective
2
Effective
1
Least
Effective
x
x
Confer to Monitor and Set Goals: During Session 6, 7, 8 and 9, complete and record a second
round conference with each student. A resource (Question for Conferring During Reading
Workshop) follows this session and provides questions by category of conference purpose.
Share
Turn and Talk: Which type(s) of evidence seem most convincing to you as a reader? Least
convincing? How and why is the most convincing evidence effective?
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Independent Reading 11: Session 6
Student Handout—Types of Evidence: Stories, anecdotes, quotes from authorities, facts and information from research projects,
analysis of art, music, and/or literature, and/or others types of evidence that might be unique to your text.
Chapter & Page(s)
Type of Evidence
3
Most
Effective
2
Effective
1
Least
Effective
Chapter & Page(s)
Type of Evidence
3
Most
Effective
2
Effective
1
Least
Effective
Chapter & Page(s)
Type of Evidence
3
Most
Effective
2
Effective
1
Least
Effective
Chapter & Page(s)
Type of Evidence
3
Most
Effective
2
Effective
1
Least
Effective
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Identifying and
Analyzing
Organizational
Structures
Concept
Teaching Point
Preparation
Suggested Resources
Essential Question(s)
Teaching Point
Active Engagement
Independent Practice
Session 7
Exploring Genre—Elements and Structures
Readers identify and analyze the organizational structures of the text to suggest how the
author establishes and connects details to develop a central idea, claim, or insight that will
influence a reader.
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading
during the unit.
Teacher-model text
 What are the basic elements and structures of literary nonfiction?
 How can I use knowledge about these elements and structures to enable me to engage in
increasingly complex texts to identify an author’s multiple purposes in a text?
Readers identify and analyze the organizational structures of the text to suggest how the
author establishes and connects details to develop a central idea, claim, or insight that will
influence a reader.
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Share four basic types of organizational structures: list,
comparison/contrast and cause/effect, and problem/solution. [Recall previous experiences with
these organizational structures in prior reading or writing experience in high school or your
class.] Use a chapter from your text to show how the author uses organizational structures to
create relationships and connect details and central ideas within a chapter, across chapters
and/or across the text.
Turn and Talk: Consider the second text excerpt. What organizational structure connects the
details? How does this choice of structure impact the reader’s understanding of the central idea or
author’s purpose?
Mini-Task: Focus your reading today on identifying organizational structures the author uses to
connect details and develop a central idea, claim, or insight?
Chapter
& Page(s)
Ch 1
20-23
Ch 1
23-25
Share
Organizational Structure
How this structure connects details
The Love Lab
Cause and effect
Marriage and Morse Code
Comparison/Contrast
By training researchers to study the facial expressions of
married couples, they can predict the rate of divorce.
The researchers compared and contrasted the reactions of
a husband and a wife to predict future problems in the
marriage.
Confer to Monitor and Set Goals: During Session 6, 7, 8 and 9, complete and record a second round
conference with each student. A resource (Question for Conferring During Reading Workshop)
follows this session and provides questions by category of conference purpose.
Turn and Talk: Compare your findings from reading today. Review your reader’s notebook to
determine if these structures are used in each chapter or do they change from chapter to chapter.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Independent Reading 11: Session 7
Student Handout—Analyzing Organizational Structures
Directions: Select 2 chapters from the book to analyze. Identify 2 organizational structures used in the chapter and
explain how the structures connect the details.
Chapter &
Page(s)
Organizational Structure
Explain how this structure connects details.
Chapter &
Page(s)
Organizational Structure
How this structure connects the details
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Developing Opinions
about the Purpose of a
Text
Concept
Teaching Point
Preparation
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Teaching Point
Active Engagement
Independent Practice
Share
Session 8
Interacting with Texts and Self-monitoring
Readers share their opinions agreeing or disagreeing with the author’s purpose: central ideas,
claims, or insights developed in a text.
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading
during the unit.
Teacher-model text.
 What strategies and processes do I use to engage in reading to explore central ideas and
arguments posed in informational texts?
 How can I use knowledge about these elements and structures to enable me to engage in
increasingly complex texts to identify an author’s multiple purposes in a text?
Readers share their opinions agreeing or disagreeing with the author’s purpose: central ideas,
claims, or insights developed in a text.
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Select a detail or insight that clearly captures the author’s point
of view on a subject and connects to a central idea you have been tracking through the text in
your modeling. Think-aloud how you agree or disagree with the author.
Preparation: Review the second example from the teacher-model-text.
Turn and Talk: Do you agree or disagree with the author?
Mini-Task: Review you reader’s log and consider the places that you would now agree or disagree
with the author’s point of view. Then continue reading. As you read today, notice 1-2 places that you
agree or disagree with the author’s point of view. Record these pages, a key detail that prompted your
opinion and a brief explanation of your opinion.
Confer to Monitor and Set Goals: During Session 6, 7, 8 and 9, complete and record a second round
conference with each student. A resource (Question for Conferring During Reading Workshop)
follows this session and provides questions by category of conference purpose.
Turn and Talk: Share one spot you agreed or disagreed with the author. Compare the places and your
similar or different views.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Expanding a Reading
Life and Reading
Preferences
Concept
Teaching Point
Preparation
Suggested Materials
Essential Question(s)
Teaching Point
Session 9
Developing the Identity of the Reader
Exploring Genres—Elements and Structures
Readers analyze the genre of Literary Nonfiction and recommend how and why this genre might be
part of an individual’s reading life.
Review Teacher-Model and Think-Aloud. Prepare think-aloud using the book you are reading during the
unit.
Teacher-model text

What reading and thinking habits do I have or will learn through stretching or extending my
reading in Literary Nonfiction.
 How can I use knowledge about these elements and structures to enable me to engage in
increasingly complex texts to identify an author’s multiple purposes in a text?
Readers analyze the genre of Literary Nonfiction and recommend how and why this genre might be
part of an individual’s reading life.
Summative Assessment Task
What reading habit impacted the way you analyzed and tracked the central idea(s) in this text?
After reading part or all of one text, review the connections, theories, and discussion topics you
have tracked and recorded in your reader’s notebook, handouts or bookmarks. Write 2-3
paragraphs to state the central idea and/or purpose of the whole text, explain how the author
connects details across the text to promote that central idea, and explain how the author
structures a single chapter, a pair of chapters to establish and explore the central idea of the whole
text.
Write a single paragraph reflection on how your reading habits have changed during this unit and
how this change will impact future reading of informational texts.
Active Engagement
Independent Practice
Share
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Reintroduce the summative assessment task by modeling an answer
to the question: What insights are you making as you connect to the author’s style and the structures of
Literary Nonfiction?
Turn and Talk:
Mini-Task: Use your time to finish reading your text and/or write a first draft of the Summative
Assessment Task using your notes in your reading log.
Preparation: Review the Rubric to identify qualities of an effective response.
Turn and Talk: Use positive response language to read and respond to the first drafts of your
Summative Assessment Task.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
Student Resources: Literary Nonfiction Texts
Author
Malcom Gladwell
Malcom Gladwell
Malcom Gladwell
A.J. Matthews
Randy Pausch and Jeffery
Zaslow
Jeffery Zaslow
Piero Ferrucci
Erik Larson
Erik Larson
Kevin Boyle
Peggy Orenstein
Ann Arnett-Ferguson
Mary Roach
Ted Conover
Joan Didion
Barabara Ehrenreich
Atul Gawande
David Grann
Michelle Goldberg
Flora Johnson
Alex Kotlowitz
Alex Kotlowitz
Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan
Amy Chua
Title
Blink
Outliers
Tipping Point
White Room
The Last Lecture
The Girls from Ames
the power of kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a
Compassionate Life
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and the American Family
in Hitler’s Berlin
Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at that
Fair that Change America
The Arc of Justice: The Saga of Race, Justice, and Murder in the
Jazz Age
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of
Girlie-Girl Culture
Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity
Stiff:The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
NewJack: Guarding Sing Sing
Salvador
Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America
Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can’t save your
life?
A Murder Foretold: Unraveling the Ultimate Political Conspiracy
The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the
World
The Intelligence Question: Are Black People Stupid?
The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, A Death,
and America’s Dilemma
There are No Children Here
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Lexile
1100L
1080L
1160L
1170L
1230L
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.
970L
930L
Teacher Resources: Annotated Bibliography for Session 1
Reference Information
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/books/29
hoax.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/druker/nonfic.html
http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/click_here
_to_see_sue_silverman_s_list_of_contemporary
_literary_nonfiction__71566.htm
http://www.creativenonfiction.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0uvIAqZbNI
http://msupress.msu.edu/journals/fg/
http://lnf.uoregon.edu/whatis
http://www.alternet.org/story/154715/10_examples_of_lite
rary_nonfiction_that_make_facts_compelling
www.education.ky.gov/nr/.../kentuckyliterarynonficti
on.ppt
Annotation
Article about an invented story
Definition and guidelines for writing Literary Nonfiction
Sue Silverman is an author of literary nonfiction. This is
her list of books to read.
Home Page of Brevity (a nonfiction magazine)
David Coleman’s explanation of what Literary
Nonfiction is and why it is important in teaching grades
6-12.
Home Page of The Fourth Genre (a nonfiction
magazine)
Home Page for Etude (defines literary nonfiction and
invites readers into Etude
Article that explains why literary nonfiction is
compelling and 10 books/articles that serve as excellent
models.
PowerPoint that defines literary nonfiction.
Resources for Further Professional Knowledge
Allington, Richard. What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011.
Print
Atwell, Nancy. The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers. New York: Scholastic
Teaching Resources, 2007. Print
Burroway, Janet. Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. 3rd ed. New York: Longman, 2003. Print
Fredericksen, James E. ,Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, and Michael W. Smith. So, What’s the Story? Teaching Narrative to Understand
Ourselves, Others, and the World. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2012. Print
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. New York: Vintage, 1983. Print
Gottschall, Jonathan. The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print
Hadden, Mark, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. London, England: Vintage, 2004. Print
Ritchart, Ron, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and
Independence for All Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools.